Cadet Mason Briggs
Mrs. Smith
ERH-102
February 19, 2017
Help received: text cited in works cited, Purdue owl to cite anthology
Kids of today’s world could not imagine growing up in a world without the use of the internet and other aids to get them through. Now full classes and even degrees are available for you to take online at your own convenience from the comforts of your own home. In the article titled “The changing face of higher education: the future of the traditional university experience” by Chrissie Long, the importance of online courses is described in many ways. Online courses can be extremely helpful for people with full time jobs, people supporting a kid, people who can’t afford college, and many more reasons. Online courses are also a great aid to students when it comes to learning or relearning a topic that you don’t understand very well in the class, no matter what the level of education is (Long, 456, 19). The matter of online education has also brought up many problems in the education world. Many colleges and universities are concerned that with available free and online education there will be no need for students to enroll and go to a college or university. Though enrollment could dip a little you would not see much of an effect to the higher education systems (Long, 456, 11-17). Online courses are a very important to the overall success to the modern student and in some cases they only recourse people have to get an education. Online courses should not be removed as an option for higher education, and if anything they should be improved and expanded to help anyone that they can.
For thousands of people in today’s world an online education is the only chance they have at getting a degree. Long goes as far as saying “ Online learning allowing students to more easily study abroad or time off due to personal issues” (Long, 456, 19). When I read personal issues I thought of even more reasons online learning is very helpful. People who have full time jobs do not have time during the day to attend a class room setting in order to get an education. The only way they can go to class is outside of work and for some people that can be late at night. An online education allows them to take classes at their own convenience, from wherever they need to take it. Online classes would also be very helpful to some parents or young adults who need to support a kid. These adults may need to work during the day and take care of the kids when they are not at work, but still want to get an education. Possibly the most important reason to make available online courses are for people who cannot afford college. In today’s age college can cost an arm and a leg to get in to. Many of today’s colleges and universities can cost in the tens of thousands of dollars a year to attend. This is just not plausibly in the budget for some people. Online courses are usually much cheaper if not free, and you can get the same education. This opportunity gives people the possibility of getting an education and a good job no matter of what your time schedule and financial circumstances are.
Other online learning opportunities are available to students no matter what the education level they are in. Long brings up the idea of flipped classroom style learning. This allows students to learn the material at home and do example problems in class and ask questions (Long, 457, 20). Another great resource is online lessons such as Khan Academy and crash course. Inevitably over the course of your education wither in elementary school, middle school, high school or even college some courses will not come easy to you. You may either have trouble with learning the material, or you may not be able to understand the teachers teaching style. With these resources available you can re learn the lesson over and over at home if that helps you. From my experience this method has been extremely effective. I have used these online resources to relearn my class topics, and in many cases it has saved my grade. Online learning devices such Khan Academy, crash course and flipped classes are very helpful and effective resources to the students of today’s world.
Even though these advancements in education are extremely helpful and important, many people are very concerned with how this will affect schools. This point was highlighted by Long in the impact on campus based education section. She states “there is some concern that the rise of online education will purge institutions” (Long, 456, 12). And what she means by this is that with the rise of the free online courses and educations the amount of enroll students could drop tremendously. From my experience at VMI this would not be the case. Most of the people attending the Virginia military institute are intending on joining the military. In order to get the training needed and hands on skills learned you would need to attend a school. Without the hands on skills learned in a military school we could have no military. Long brings up another good point in opposition to these criticisms. She says “AS far as the undergraduate level, the ivy-covered brick towers, dorm room keg parties, and large lecture halls still have their place. Experts agree that campuses serve as an important venue for the transition from adolescent to adulthood” (Long, 456, 16). Many kids just want to get out and learn to live on their own and have some freedom from their parents, without being kicked straight in to the world. Although many people argue that these new technologies will hurt the enrollment to schools, it is likely to have little to no effect on enrollment.
The use of online education as a source of education is crucial to the success of many people in today’s world. Many people for various reasons are not able to attend a higher education and would still be able to with these online resources. Many people also use these sources as a means of prep and learning of classes they are currently in in a normal school. And though many people argue that it would hurt the enrollment of universities, it would have little to no effect at all. Online education is a glimpse in to a more prepared and well educated society.
Work Cited:
Long, Chrissie. “The Changing Face of Higher Education: The Future of the Traditional
University Experience.” Writing Argument, edited by John D. Ramage, John C. Bean,
June Johnson, Pearson Education ,2016, 455-459.